It's hard to make a vacation choice

I am looking for vacation ideas. We haven't been to Gatlinburg, Tennessee in a long time so I looked it up on the Internet to see if there was anything interesting going on in case we got tired of hiking. During the time I am thinking of going there is a Scottish Festival. I talked it over with my husband and he didn't think haggis hurling and bagpipe competitions sounded all that appealing.

I guess I'll have to think of somewhere else to go.

I would like to visit the grandchildren but I would also like to do something else along the way. Stone Mountain, Georgia, had a sheep shearing event listed as one of its attractions. Being a city boy, I doubt if my husband has ever seen a sheep go from round and fluffy to bare and skinny. I also doubt if he would find it very entertaining.

I want to go someplace where we can go on day hikes and finish off with a great meal that I don't have to cook. One year we followed the Natchez Trace. It was beautiful. The trees overhanging the roadways looked positively ancient. I can't begin to convey how peaceful it felt. Plus we ended up at a wonderful restaurant.

Maybe we should check out some of the more obscure attractions our country has to offer. My former father-in-law was from Hazard, Kentucky. The closest I ever came to seeing the town was all the falling rock signs on the highway.

Hazard features a round stone building with a large goose on top. The pictures make it look like a giant goose trying to hatch a building. Who in the world thinks up these things and more importantly - why? It would make for some interesting vacation photos.

My husband grew up in Chicago. I haven't been there since I was 15 or 16. I am sure the town has changed since then. I wouldn't even know where to start but I'm sure my husband would be able to show me the sights.

Perhaps we should go east and visit his sister in Virginia. The world's largest apple is supposed to be somewhere in Virginia. The Powhatan Stone (whatever that is) is also in Virginia. But the most attractive thing in the state is family.

My sister-in-law is an artist and recently had several of her designs licensed. We always knew she was good but now she has the validation to prove it. So next time you see a reproduction of a painting it could be one of hers.

At this point I really do not know where I want to go on vacation. As long as my husband is with me that will be enough.

There are several things we want to avoid. One is the world's worst hotel. We stayed there one night. The door banged against the bed and one had to crawl over the bed to get into the room. Then the shower came complete with a cigarette butt. It was nasty. The second worst hotel featured a two-inch gap at the bottom of the door, a girl's baseball convention and a violent and loud couple next door that we had to have the front desk call the cops about. We were afraid for the woman's life. The couple left the room in handcuffs.

One of my favorite vacation memories is when we were in Wisconsin, back a long trail. We had come to a lake and were skipping rocks. My husband was far better at it than I was. It was a beautiful sunny day; not too warm, not too chilly. Even though there were warning signs about hungry bears we didn't see any. I could have spent an entire summer there.

One of these days we want to go west to Yellowstone or north to Alaska. Those trips would need far more than a week to do them justice. In the meantime we will decide where and when to go. There's a big beautiful country out there just waiting to be explored. I intend to see at least some of it soon.[[In-content Ad]]